‘Haven’t Asked Teachers to Count Stray Dogs’: DoE Files Police Complaint Over ‘Misinformation'
New Delhi: The Directorate of Education (DoE) on Thursday (January 1) filed a police complaint alleging “misinformation” about a November 20 circular that asked educational institutions to nominate nodal officers for stray dog-related matters.
In its complaint, filed at the Civil Lines police station, the DoE alleged that a false narrative – suggesting that school teachers have been asked to count stray dogs – was being constructed.
“The teachers are only involved in academic activities. The false narrative is mischievous,” Director (Education) Veditha Reddy said.
The DoE said that circular was only meant to ensure students’ safety and prevent stray dogs from entering school premises.
“It has been seen that deliberate attempts have been made for spreading false and fabricated news with malafide intent, causing confusion and panic among teachers and school staff, damage to the reputation of the Education Department and disruption of public order and trust in government institutions…There has been no mention of any counting of stray dogs in the said circular,” the complaint read.
November 20 circular
The November 20 circular had asked educational institutions, including schools, to nominate nodal officers for matters related to stray dogs and submit their details to the DoE. The move had received flak from teachers' associations, who asked why the animal welfare department was not being involved instead of teaching staff.
Earlier this week, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the primary focus of the DoE circular was “identification, vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs to ensure safety for students and the public”.
The DoE in its complaint demanded a thorough probe to “identify the originators and forwarders of the false content”.
Delhi government’s response
Education minister Ashish Sood responding to Kejriwal said that no such duties had been allocated to teachers. “We decided that schools should be aware of how to report complaints related to stray dog attacks and ensure that dogs do not enter school premises,” he said.
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta in a post on X said, “The Education Department has lodged a formal complaint… taking strict action against the fake news being spread by the Aam Aadmi Party. This is a serious and deliberate attempt to demoralise our dedicated teachers and to deliberately create mistrust in Delhi’s education system.”
Such “deception” against Delhi will not be tolerated, she added.
“There is zero tolerance for the politics of lies, and everyone responsible for this will be held fully accountable under the law,” Gupta said.
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